Monday, January 10, 2011

All smiles: Leighton Meester pictured on the set of Gossip Girl in New York today

If Leighton Meester was feeling disappointed that her new movie failed to set the box office alight, then she certainly didn't show it.

The 24-year-old actress was spotted on location filming Gossip Girl today with a huge grin on her face - despite Country Strong flopping over the weekend.

The country music drama didn't even make it into the top five, settling instead for sixth place in its opening weekend and taking $7.3m.

Shopping spree: The actress was filming scenes for the popular U.S. TV show but her film Country Strong failed to set the box office alight this weekend

Considering the cast is headed up by Hollywood A-lister Gwyneth Paltrow, it is a disappointing performance.

The drama is centred on a rising country-music songwriter (Garrett Hedlund) who sparks with a fallen star (Paltrow).

Together, they mount his ascent and her comeback, which leads to romantic complications involving her husband/manager (Tim McGraw) and a beauty queen-turned-singer (Meester).

In comparison True Grit seized the reins with $15 million, taking the No. 1 spot and becoming the first Western to top the $100 million mark since the 1990s, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.

The Paramount release starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon bumped off Robert De Niro and Ben Stillers comedy Little Fockers, which was No. 1 for the previous two weekends.

Released by Universal, Little Fockers slipped to second with $13.8 million, raising its total to $124 million.

True Grit, which was directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, lifted its total to $110.4 million.

Among newcomers, Nicolas Cages supernatural thriller Season of the Witch opened at No. 3 with $10.7 million. Distributed by Relativity Media, the movie stars Cage as a knight in the Middle Ages escorting a suspected witch to her trial.

True Grit is a new take on Charles Portis novel, previously adapted in a 1969 version that earned John Wayne an Academy Award.

Bridges stars as lawman Rooster Cogburn, hired by a 14-year-old girl to track down her fathers killer.

In Waynes day, Westerns were a fixture in Hollywood, but the genre fell out of favour over the last 40 years.